No deal yet in UBS tax case, trial to proceed, U.S. says

MIAMI, July 29 (Reuters) – The United States said on Wednesday no deal had been reached so far in talks with Swiss authorities to settle a tax evasion dispute and it expected a trial against Swiss bank UBS AG to go vahead as scheduled on Monday.

“The parties, and that is primarily the Swiss government and the United States government, have been discussing settlement but no agreement has been reached,” said Stuart Gibson, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department’s tax division.

“The government plans to continue talking but the United States’ position is that the court should proceed to hold the hearing next week,” he said in a status conference call with the Florida federal court judge presiding over the case.

Judge Alan Gold agreed to hold another status conference Friday, to allow the parties to see whether a deal could be reached or a further delay was necessary. He said he was otherwise prepared to proceed with the trial on Monday.

U.S. authorities are expected to use the trial to demand enforcement of a summons ordering UBS to turn over the details of accounts suspected of being used by thousands of wealthy Americans to evade U.S. income taxes.

The case is expected to figure prominently in talks between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey at a meeting scheduled for Friday.